Feed-regulator for roller-mills



(No Model.)

0, SMITH.

FEED REGULATOR FOR ROLLER MILLS.

Patented Nov. 8, 1887.

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UNITED STATES PATENT EErcE.

OSNVALD SMITH, OF TELL CITY, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO WV. T. PYNE, OF LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY.

FEED=REGULATOR FOR ROLLER-MILLS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 372,939, dated November 8 1887.

I Application filed August 4, 1886. Serial No. 209,976. (No model.) V

which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to that class of devices which are used for feedinggrain, 80c. to rollermills and middlings to purifiers. Grain of all kinds,middlings, &c. when poured from a spout upon any surface spreads out-at the base and piles up in a conical form, the sides of the cone assuming a slant peculiar to the material, somewhat influenced by the dampness or dryness of the atmosphere at different times. For

instance, when very dry and clean,wheat might spread two feet at the base of a cone whose center is only six inches high, while if it were damp and dirty it might rise to a height.- of nine inches or a foot at the center before spreading two feet atthe base.

To produce the best result in grinding grain, 850., it is very important that the material to be ground shall be delivered to the grindingrollers evenly along their whole length at all times, whether the material enters the hopper evenly or not.

To that end this invention consists in the construction and combination of parts forming a feed-regulator for roller'mills, hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompany drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a mill-feeding hopper, partly broken away to show my feedregulator; and Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same with the cover removed.

3 represents the hopper of a grinding-mil], into which hopper the material to be ground is permitted to run through any suitable spout, such as 4. The two ends 5 5 of my hopper are vertical and theside 6 is at a fixed slant. The side 7 of the hopper is hinged to the ends 5 at 8, upon arms. 9, so as to rise and fall at its lower edge as a gate, while its upper portion moves forward and backward, serving as a pressure-board. This piece 7, serving in the capacities of a gate, a pressure-board, and a side of the hopper, will, for the purposes of this specification, be called by either one of the said names most appropriate to the associations.

10 is a feeding-roller journaled in the frame of the hopper and serving as a bottom to the latter. ltis revolved continually, as usual, in the direction of the arrow bymeans of a pulley, 11, and belt 12, to carry grain out of the hopper beneath the gate 7 and discharge or feed it upon the grinding-rollers, which are located, as usual, below the feed-roller and hopper, and not here shown.

13 is aside of the box portion of the hopper, and has no other duty than to cover in the works.

14c is a beltcrank lever pivoted in the upper part of the hopper, one of its arms being connected with the upper edge of the board 7 by a wire, 15, and its other arm being provided with a weight, 16, and a set-screw, whereby arm to adjust it to the work required.

17 represents flexible connections-such as clothsecured at one edge of, each of the inner faces of the pressure board, thence extending across the joints between the pressureboard and the ends 5, and secured at the other edge to the respective ends 5 of the hopper on lines located on the said ends between the pressure-board and the opposite side, 6, of the hopper, the back of the cloth resting against the end of the hopper. These connections 17 are to prevent any grain from entering or passing through the joints between the pressureboard and hopper ends. .[f the grain were to pass through the joint, it would accumulate behind the board and stop its action. If the grain enters thatjoint at all, it wedges between the board and hopper end, impeding at first and finally stopping the action of the board. I make the pressure-board to serve as one full side of the hopper to get the greatest possible surface for the grain to act upon in its fluctuations, thus insuring sensitiveness of action. I make the joints between the board and hopthe weight may be fixed at any point on the per ends as close as possible, and leave the joints and interfere with the action of the board. \Vhen the board is heaviest loaded, it is pressed farthest back or outward relatively to the hopper, and the cloths are nearest straight, resting almost flatly against the hopper ends 5. As the grain recedes and the load grows lighter, the board moves inward, and the cloths being thereby slackened necessarily form into wrinkles. These wrinkles cannot be accommodated with space outward or back of the cloth, because the latter rests as closely as possible on the board and hopper ends, so the wrinkles are forced to forminward. Thus the cloth wrinkles move inward when the board moves inward, and they straighten or move outward when the board moves outward, thus acting in conjunction with the pressure-board toward the desired result.

Herctofore in those feeders which are controllcd by pressure boards provided with flexible connections similar to my cloths 17 the cloths were in each instance nearly equal in area to the pressure-board, and so placed as to receive and support the same amount of pressure per square inch from the grain as the pressure-board itself. Thosecloths are so placed that when grain accumulates on their front and the board yields thereto the cloths do notyield in like manner to the same amount, but they bag backward, and when the board should again start freely forward the loaded cloths hang upon it and impede it. Whether the board be moving forward or backward, the load on the cloths impedes its freedom of action and causes the action to be spasmodic. In such devices the cloth has heretofore been a positive element acted upon by the weight of the grain. In this respect my cloths differ in their action from all others. Being supported at their backs, they have no pulling action on the board and do not impede it in any way. They do not support any part of the pressure of the grain, but they allow the grain to rest upon the board the same as though there were no cloths, and yet the cloths are there to prevent the passage of grain into the joint, and they have no other office, and do not produce nor interfere with the production of any other effect.

The hingc pins 8 are fixed in bell-crank levers 18, which are pivoted at 19 to the ends 5 of the hopper, and are provided with handles 20,whereby they maybe forced to move against the resistance of the gate 7, which is hung thereon, and are further provided with slotted arcs and sct-screws 21, whereby the pivots 8 may be raised or lowered and be fixed at will. By these adjustable hinges two objects are accomplished: First, the wear of the edge of the gate and the feed-roller may be compensated for; second, the gate may be so set that while swinging through the extent of its arc of motion it will barely reach to the roller, or so that it will reach within one-sixteenth of an inch thereof, or to any other distance, as desired. To act in conjunction with these hinges, made adjustable in a direction nearly parallel with the motion ofthe gate, I have provided a cam or latch, 22,111 the path of the weighted arm of thebellerank lever 14. lVhcu the mill is not in operatiomthe said arm should be pressed down to forcibly close the gate, so that material will not escape from the hopper and accumulate on the grinding-rollers, and the cam 22 should be set to block the arm and lock the gate closed.

The operation is as follows: The miller first gages the spent 4, by any usual means, to deliver grain into the hopper at the proper specdthat is, at the number of bushels per hour which the mill can thoroughly grind. He then permits enough grain to enter the hopper to spread to its ends and starts the mill, watching carefully for awhile to see if the head of grain in the hopper increases or diminishes. If it increases, the increased amount of grain forces the pressure-board back and increases the gateo-pcning, thus allow ng more rapid escape of the grain and lowering its head in the hopper. If this is not the result, the weight 16 bears too heavily and must be moved inward on its arm. On the contrary, if the head of grain lowers so rapidly that the ends of the roller are likely to be left bare, the weight 16 must be set farther out on its arm to assist in closing the gate.

When this feed-regulator has thus been properly adj ustcd to a certain kind of grain, it will deliver the grain from the roller in an even sheet from end to end, and it may require no further adj nstinent for a week. I attribute the case and freedom of action of this pressure-board to the described construction,whieh presents a large surface to be acted upon by the fluctuations in the head of grain in the hopper, which also prevents the action of the board being clogged, which supports at their back the cloth-connections between the board and hopper ends, and which forces the wrinkling of the cloth to act in harmony with the board. The pressure board or gate being hinged at some distance from its plane and about opposite to its edge, the pressure backward of the upper portion thereof causes the lower edge to move vertically from the roller, and the action is positive, without any intermediate parts to get out of order. By this construction all wearing parts except the weighted arm are protected within the hopper-box out of the way. The weighted arm is placed outside of the box, so that it may be readily seen and adjusted. A pressure-board extending nearly the full length and height of the hopper is not new, and a pressure-board having flexible connections located to the rear of the n'essure-board is not new, and I do not claim such a pressureboard nor flexible connections so located as my invention.

Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, in a hopper, of the hinged pressureboard 7, forming one side thereof, and the flexible connections 17, each connection being secured at one edge to the face of the pressure'board andat its other edge to the hopper forward of the said board and resting against an end of the hopper, substantially as shown and described.

2. The combination, in a hopper, of the vertical ends 5 5, the pressure-board 7, hinged thereto, and flexible connections 17-such as clothconnecting the face of the pressureboard with the ends of the hopperand resting against the said ends, substantially as shown and described.

3. The combination, in a hopper, of the fixed ends 5, the roller 10, the pressure-board 7, the arms 9, secured near the lower edge thereof, the bell-crank levers 18, provided with handles 20,- and pivoted at 19 to the ends 5 of the hopper, and slotted and provided with set-screws 21, and the hinge-pins 8, connecting the arms 9 with the arms 18, substantially as shown and described.

4. The combination, in a hopper, of the pressure-board 7, provided with hinges 8 at its lower edge, the arms 9, projecting from the plane of the pressure-board, the bell-crank lever 14, pivoted in the upper part of the hopper, the connection 15 between the upper portion of the pressure-board and one arm of the bell-crank lever, and the weight 16, ad justable along the other arm of'the said lever and provided with a set-screw, substantially as shown and described.

5. The combination, in a hopper, of the hinged pressure board and gate 7, the bellcrank lever 14, journaled in the hopper, and having one arm within the hopper connected with the said pressure board and gate, and having another arm exterior to the hopper, and a cam or latch, 22, hung in the path of the said exterior arm, substantially as shown and described, whereby the exterior arm may be blocked to lock the gate closed, for'the purpose specified.

In testimony whereofI affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

OSWALD SMITH.

WVitnesses:

ALBERT HERB, ANDY STEINAUER. 

